No racing as Alert Level stays at 4

The Government’s latest decision to extend Alert Level 4 means there will be no harness racing in the country until Sunday at the earliest.

Auckland will remain at Alert 4 till midnight Tuesday (August 31) at the very least, with a review of the lockdown scheduled for next Monday (August 30).

The rest of the country will be at Alert Level 4 till midnight this Friday, with an update expected earlier in the day.

Thursday’s scheduled meeting at Cambridge is off, though it’s hoped a replacement meeting can be organised for next week. HRNZ will work with the club to look at possible options over the next couple of days.

After detailed discussions between HRNZ and the TAB it’s also been decided that Winton’s meeting, also on Thursday, will be held at Invercargill on Sunday, starting at 11.30am.

Addington will now hold two meetings, on Sunday, NZMET starting 3.30pm, and Rangiora on Monday. They will replace the Addington meeting originally scheduled for Friday night, and Rangiora’s Sunday meeting.

All meetings will only be held if the Alert Level is at Three or better. If the Alert Levels remain at Level 4 then all racing will be off.

Under Alert Level 4, the government protocols are horses are able to have light exercise from an animal welfare point of view e.g. walking or jogging a couple of rounds of a track to stretch their legs, if they are usually boxed or unable to get out into a paddock to run around.

This is either at your own track or if you are based at a training centre whereby you train that horse at the centre each day of the week. This covers people living close to the training centre without direct access as well.

It is not business as usual and therefore you are not allowed to fast work or be jogging a horse for a longer period. If you travel to a track once or twice a week to fast work this is not permitted.

Government protocols, including wearing face masks, social distancing and regular hand sanitising, must be followed to ensure we are able to continue to race at other Alert Levels when restrictions are lifted.